Kaua'i physician Dr. Harold Spear III, already awaiting federal sentencing on illegal narcotics prescription charges, has pleaded guilty to similar charges in state court.

In what authorities referred to as the "dial-a-doc" case, Spear wrote prescriptions for controlled substances methadone and hydrocodone without meeting patients personally or conducting necessary medical examinations.

Spear pleaded guilty in Kaua'i Circuit Court to two felony charges of illegally prescribing and and dispensing controlled substances.

The state charges grew from two searches of Spear's Hanapepe Clinic by federal and state drug agents in 2006 that showed dozens of prescriptions for controlled substances were written and dispensed by the clinic while Spear was out of the state.

He will be sentenced June 16 in Kaua'i Court.

In a plea agreement reached with the state Attorney General's office, Spear will be sentenced to up to five years in prison, to be served concurrently with any federal prison sentence he receives.